Fifth-seeded Iowa losing in the first round was already considered quite a gift for the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks. But things really blew up on Sunday in the Midwest region of this year’s NCAA Tournament.
No. 11 seed Iowa State knocked off third-seeded Wisconsin in the afternoon. And No. 10 seed Miami (Fla.) took out No. 2 seed Auburn on Sunday night.
The Cyclones won by five, holding Wisconsin to 49 total points. And Miami steamrolled Auburn late to win by 18.
That leaves four teams headed to Chicago: Top-seeded Kansas, fourth-seeded Providence, Miami (Fla.) and Iowa State. One of those four programs will be headed to this year’s Final Four in New Orleans.
Kansas and Providence will tip off at 6:29 p.m. Friday on TBS in the first game at Chicago’s United Center. Miami and Iowa State will play 30 minutes after the conclusion of the KU game.
The opening up of the bracket for No. 1 Kansas (30-6) is awfully reminiscent to what went down in 2011.
That year, with KU as the No. 1 seed in the Southwest regional, the Jayhawks were joined in San Antonio by three double-digit seeds during the second weekend — 12th seeded Richmond, No. 10 seed Florida State and No. 11 seed VCU.
At that point, many believed that Kansas was a lock to reach the 2011 Final Four and the Jayhawks stormed past Richmond in the Sweet 16, 77-57, to make that take seem even more likely.
However, after surviving Florida State by a point in the Sweet 16, VCU and head coach Shaka Smart shocked Kansas 71-61 in the regional final to send KU home and VCU to the Final Four.
So while the path looks pretty for Kansas in Chicago next week, there are certainly enough Kansas fans — and people associated with the program — who understand all too well that none of that seeding mess matters at this time of year.
In order to reach the Sweet 16, you have to be playing great basketball no matter who you are or what you’re seeded.
The Jayhawks certainly fall in that category, but they’ll have to be sharp to get past Providence on Friday.
If they’re successful, it’ll either be a third game against the Cyclones this season or a showdown with former Jayhawk Charlie Moore for the right to go to the Final Four.
The Kansas region looked pretty favorable when it came out on Selection Sunday one week ago. But with the 2, 3 and 5 seeds bowing out in the first weekend, the road to New Orleans looks even prettier for Kansas now.
None of that will matter if the Jayhawks don’t play well in Chicago, but oddsmakers have make KU the clear favorite to emerge from Chicago and head to New Orleans.
One online sports book had Kansas at -150 to win the regional, with Iowa State (+500), Providence (+548) and Miami (+600) all far behind the Jayhawks.
As for the strength of the region, here’s how it compares to the seeds and KenPom.com rankings for the 16 teams still alive for this year’s national title, broken down by region.
Of note:
• The South region has two of the top three KenPom teams remaining and three of the top 11. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Midwest region includes three of the four lowest remaining KenPom teams that are still playing.
• All four teams remaining in the West region, which is the only one that played to its seeds, are in the KenPom top 18.
• While the East region does feature the lowest-ranked KenPom squad still playing in the tournament (No. 101 Saint Peter’s), the other three teams in Philadelphia are all ranked in the Top 20.
**Midwest:**
1 – Kansas – No. 5 KenPom
4 – Providence – No. 33 KenPom
10 – Miami (Fla.) – No. 42 KenPom
11 – Iowa State – No. 37 KenPom
**West:**
1 – Gonzaga – No. 1 KenPom
2 – Duke – No. 9 KenPom
3 – Texas Tech – No. 6 KenPom
4 – Arkansas – No. 18 KenPom
**East:**
3 – Purdue – No. 12 KenPom
4 – UCLA – No. 8 KenPom
8 – North Carolina – No. 20 KenPom
15 – Saint Peter’s – No. 101 KenPom
**South:**
1 – Arizona – No. 3 KenPom
2 – Villanova – No. 11 KenPom
5 – Houston – No. 2 KenPom
11 – Michigan – No. 26 KenPom
